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UNITED STATES OF AMEKICA. 



ON THE RESOLUTION TO EXPEl. iHK. LONG. 



SPEECH 



OF 



HON. BENJAMIN Q. HARRIS, 



OF MARYLAND, 



DELIVERED 



[N THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OP THE UNITE!) 
STATES, APRIL 9, 1864. 



WASHINGTON, D. C: 

PRINTED AT THE CONSTITUTIONAL UNION OFFICE. 
1864. 



''V 

. rt3V 



SPEECH. 



The House having under consideration the reso- 
lution to expel Mr. Long, of Ohio — 

Mr. HARRIS, of Mayland, said : 

Mr. Speaker : I came late into the House, 
and have not had the opportunity of listen- 
ing to the greater portion of the debate on this 
resolution. But, sir, I listened yesterday to the 
language which fell from my friend from Ohio, 
[Mr. Long,] and I endorsed every entiment that 
he uttered. And I deem it my duty, though others 
may quake, though others may shrink Irom his 
side, to indorse here every sentiment that he 
uttered. 

Mr. MALLORY. Will my friend from Mary- 
land yield to mo for a moment to enable mo to in- 
quire of the gentleman from Indiana whether it is 
his purpose to press a vote upon this resolution to- 
day ? 

Mr. COLFAX. It is not. It is my wish to 
allow reasonable time for debate and time for con- 
sideration. If the gentleman will allow me I will 
say that I offered that resolution, not as a matter 
of pleasure, but as a matter of duty. I desire 
every gentleman to calmly consider the whole 
question before he comes to a vote upon it, and I 
shall not not, therefore, call the previous question 
upon it to-day. 

Mr. HARRIS, of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, I 
shall not detain the House very long. But, sir, I 
could not sit here and see an attempt made to 
tyrannise over one who entertains sentiments 
which 1 did not know he entertained until yester- 
day, but sentiments which I have long entertained- 
and entertaining I intend to stand by his side for 
weal or for woe. 

Sir, when the honorable gentleman from Ohio 
[Mr. Garfield] replied to his colleague who first 
spoke [Mr. Long] he said that he had the courage 
of a lion, that he had the courage to face the can- 
non and the rifle. It was a compliment to my 
friend, but no compliment to this House, the in- 
tolerance of which has made it a necessity for my 
friend in speaking his honest sentiments in debate 
to have the courage to face these implements of 

war. 

Another thing which the gentleman from Ohio 
[Mr. Garfield] avowed led me to suppose that he 
would not be found in support of such a resolution 
as this was, that he believed his colleague [Mr. 



Long] sincerely and honestly entertained theso 
sentiments. 

Now, I would like to know what the reason is, 
when a man go's up here and avows his sentiments 
upon a question of public policy, upon a measure 
which would, in his mode of thinking, lead to a 
termination of this disastrous war, one of the only 
modes by which it can terminate, and does it in 
sincerity, that he is to be denounced as having 
spoken treason, that he designed treason, and at 
the same time avow the belief that he was sincere 
and honest in his statement? Sir, I am willing to 
go with my friend anywhere you choose to send 
him upon such an issue. If there is any honesty 
in any party in this country they will defend us., 
they will protect us, they will rise like a hurri- 
cane and sweep away the vermin race of politicians 
that are preying upon the very vitals of American 
liberty. 

But, speaking upon the issues before the coun- 
try. What is the issue ? Is not peace an issue ? 
Cannot a man protest against carrying on or favor- 
ing a war to the extermination of a whole race of 
people? Cannot a man get up and say, we do not 
admire your tactics ; we would rather have peace 
than such a war ; we think it is better peace should 
come ; it will save the lives of our people on both 
sides ; it will save the money of the men who are 
now oppressed with heavy burdens of taxation tc 
carry on this war ? Cannot a man say it is bette* 
to havo peace than war, and especially when ho 
brings authority to show that the position ho takes 
is sustained by the ablest men, by men who advo- 
cated your own principles, by men, sir, who gov- 
erned this country? When the gentleman from 
Ohio brings here the opinions of such men to back 
him up, you say that he must discard all such opin- 
ions. Why, not one of you, yes, sir, not one ol 
you can be called a fifth-rate man compared with 
those from whom the honorable gentleman quoted 
yesterday. [Laughter.] 
Mr. GARFIELD rose. 

Mr. HARRIS, of Maryland. No, sir, I cannot 
yield to the gentleman at this time. 

Mr. Speaker, when I came here at this session of 
Congress I was solitary and alone. I could not 
say for some time whether anybody sympathized 
with me ; I felt myself solitary and alone. Those 
who were hero around me were war Democrats. 
They invited mo to their caucus, but I could uo' 



go. The Republicans, I knew, would never let me 
go into their caucus, and I never intended to apply 
I would starve among them. I am a peace man, a 
radical peace man; and I am for peace by the rec- 
ognition of the South, for the recognition of the 
Southern Confederacy; and I am for acquiescence 
in the doctrine of secession. [Sensation and laugh- 
ter.] Laugh as you may, you have got to come to 
;t. I thought I was alone. I began to take the 
advice of Gate to his son, 

" ^l^"' "'■=* P''"''ails and impious men bear sway, 
ihe post of honor is a private station." I 

I felt like giving up my seat and leijving this ' 
place. I stood here solitary and alone on this 
floor; but now, thank God! there is another soul 
saved. [Laughter.] I feel that we can baptize my 
honorable friend from Ohio, [Mr. Long,] and I am 
glad to have such able aid. I shall not go home 
now. WhenCato gave that advice he had fought 
his last battle, and had yielded to the fortunes and 
ambition of Julius C^sar. He was about to take 
a victory over himself by a Roman's death, because 
he saw his cause was hopeless. Not so ours. I 
eel yet there is a hope in this country. I feel 
through the rustling of the winds there is a tor- 
nado coming that will sweep away the present 
majority from power and give it into the hands of 
men who will settle the aflfairs of this country- 
men who have something like humanity; men who 
have regard for the principles of our forefathers. 
Ay, I recollecthow my blood curdled when I heard 
the discussion on the confiscation bill. The gen- 
tleman from Ohio [Jlr. Garfield] said, let them 
be expatriated like the Tories of the Revolution 
The Tories of the Revolution had the mother 
country to run to, and were protected there. But 
where would the gentleman send those whom he 
would expatriate from the South, as gallant and 
noble a race as ever walked upon the earth; noble in 
everything that constitutes men of honor and men 
of principle-gentlemen? Sir, you would expa- 
triate those people, their wives and children, and 
send them among strangers to starve. Another 
member from Ohio, [Mv. Spalding,] was not only 
for confiscating their property in fee; he, sir, went 
through the catalogue. He was for confiscation, 
he was for expatriation, and he was for extermina- 
tion. [Laughter.] He emphasised every syllable 
of that word; and when he did so, I looked at his 
countenance, and I felt as if I were in a den of 
hyenas. 

I am not here for war, and will not be here for 
war, so long as I have a heart humane Kid Chris- 
tian, when war is carried on upon such principles. 
No, sir, war never did and never will bring your 
Union together in such manner as to be worth one 
cent. I am for peace, and I am for Union, too. I 
am as good a Union man as any of you, [Lau-h- 
ter.J I am a better Union man than any of you 



[Great laughter.] I am a Union man, and have 
thrown up my head-no, I have not lost that yetl 
I hav. , the past thrown up my hat for the Lse 
of the Union, and cheered at its success. I felt aa 
anxious for its success as any man upon this floor 
I look upon war as disunion. I look upon con- 
tinued war as actually keeping off the Union to « 
still later period, and I scarcely believe that peace 
would accomplish a Union. And surely, if any. 
thing will, it is that sweet angel of peace. She 
may unite the cords which have been severed by 
he hand of war, and may tie them more tight J 
together than ever before; but if we are to hav^ 
disoit^ ^,^^^^^^^^^^j^^^^ 

without bloodshed. Let us have it, and instead ot 
having one great consolidated Government, one 
imperial Government, one splendid Government, 
let us at least have on this continent two nappy 
Governments. But, as I said before, 1 Iook to 
peace as the harbinger of the Union, if tnere k 
any harbinger for it. 

,But, sir, I am a slaveholder. That is to Bay I 
was, until Ben. Butlor stole my slaves a« away. 
[Laughter.] As an old Democrat, I used to ad- 
mire him very much; but of course 1 lave not 
much admiration for him now. His conduct only 
shows what he always was. I am a slaveholder, 
and I have sat here patiently hearing you irsult 
me every day with your assertions that slavery was 
a sin and the sum of all villainies; for I do nor 
consider that a man can participate in tbe sum o. 
all villainies without being himself a villian J 
have borne all these things, and I have looked 
upon you as frantic upon the subject. Ijuve really 
compassionated you. [Laughter.] Now. sir, if 
slavery is a sin, I am willing to bear the reproach. 
But as you refer me to God Almighty for my title to 
my slaves, lean show you that it is sanctioned 
by His word. You declare this institution lo be a 
crime; you declare it to bo the sun, of all vil- 
lainies; but I tell you that whoever says my 
father was a villian because he held Blaves-and 
he had slaves and died a Christian; »,hoever says 
that my constituents whom I represent are vUlian. ' 
because they hold slaves-I know them to b^ " 
honest and upright men, doing their dut^ as 
Christians as much as anybody; whoever say. 
these things is a liar. I will let no man write 
such an epitaph upon the tomb of my father I 
will let no man say such a thing to me here in my 
presence without calling him to responsibility 
You may consider it a sin as between you and you- 
God, but you shall not use insulting language 
upon such a subject as that without being tilled 
to account. 

Sir, the Union is dissolved and there is ^ gulf of 
blood lying between the two sections; but u^on my 
honor, upon my ,oul, I repeat that every wop 'n 
that gulf ,s on the souls of the Northern p.^Jo I 



io not think that any candid man who looks at the 
history of this affair can come to any other conclu- 
aion. From the beginning of the Government, from 
the time of the adoption of the Constitution down 
to the time of the election of Abraham Lincoln, you 
have been using terms of insult and terms of irri- 
tation, and you have been doing everything you 
could to bring about tho very result which is now 
upon you. Look at the history of this matter. I 
shall not repeat it; it is too familiar and has been 
too often repeated. At first you only cultivated the 
ground, but when that old scold and wrangler, the 
worst man that ever lived in this country, even not 
excepting Aaron Eurr; when that old scold and 
wrangler, John Quincy Adams, declared that by the 
war power you could emancipate all the slaves and 
sell tho States which had slaves to a foreign Power, 
that was the day when you commenced to exert all 
your powers to excite this people to rebellion. That 
was the day you sowed the dragon's teeth, which 
have sprung up as armed men destroying each 
other and the liberties of the people. Then it was 
you said you would not live with them, that the 
Government was a compact with hell, and that one 
of the most agreeable things in the world would be 
to part with the Soiath and slavery. That was the 
announcement of your public men everywhere, that 
they could not live with you in peace. Well, they 
separated from you, and asked you to live on terms 
«if peace with them. What did you do ? You im- 
taediately howled out, " They are traitors ; we will 
hang them all ; and when we have hung them we 
will take all their property and divide it among us." 
And, sir, all this was to be done, according to your 
great •' higher-law" apostle, William II. Seward 
in the course of sixty days ! No doubt tho facility 
with which he thought it could be done was a great 
incentive to begin the work, especially as there 
were lands in the South and many other benefits 
that they expected to get hold of very easily down 
there. 

Well, a great many of the Republican leaders 
went out to Bull Run in July, 1861, to witness the 
perfect overthrow of the poor Southerners. The 
lamented gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Lovejoy) I 
thiuk went out there, and one member of this House 
from Massachusetts went out I think, and one from 
New York. They carried their pic-nic with them, 
spring chickens and champagne. [Laughter.] They 
thought they were going to have a very happy time 
of it popping off their champagne corks amid the 
blood and gore of the slaughter of the Southerners. 
One of them I think went to Richmond rather faster 
than he expected. [Laughter] One of them came 
back howling for mercy, having offered, I have 
heard, $500 to be driven out of the reach of the 
" black horse" of Virginia. 

You see, sir, that these things were all to have 
been ione in a very short time, but instead of that 



they have not been done yet. Instead of seventy- 
five thousand men doing tho work, you nave had 
to get a million and a half, and the million and a 
half will not do it. Those you have sent South 
have been "welcomed with bloody hs.nds to hospi- 
table graves." You had an idea that the "poor 
white trash" of the South, as you called them, were 
the mere dregs of the people, and couid easily be 
conquered. Why, sir, you do not know them as 
well as I do. A bolder, braver, more honorable set 
of men do not live on the face of God's earth. And 
when you attempt to elevate the negro to an equal- 
ity with these southern white men, or even say that 
he is no better than the negro, he will strike though 
he may die immediately. All tho attempts to put 
the negro on an equality with the white man, to 
give him an equal suffrage at the ballot-box, to 
give him a place upon the witness-stand to testify 
against the life or the honor of the white man, or 
to give him any office that will inflict dishonor upon 
the white man or run any risk of not keeping up 
the inequality that now exists between the races, 
will be resisted to the death by every southern 
heart. 

Now, Mr. Speaker, who was it after all that 
brought this institution of slavery here and estab- 
lished it among us ? The Puritans were first-rate 
men. They had some peculiarities, but they were 
honorable, brave, and patriotic men. They ap- 
proved of slavery. They looked in every corner 
of tho Old Testament, and in every line of the New 
Testament, and they could find nothing against it, 
and they approved of slavery. Why, it is said that 
the very schooner which brought the Pilgrim 
Fathers to this continent, and landed them at Ply. 
mouth, returned to Africa for a cargo of slaves. 
[Laughter.] I do not blame them for it. But, sir, 
they brought them here, and they kept them as 
long as they could use them profitably. Then they 
sold them to the South. And many a man who 
looks me now in the face is the son or descendant 
of one who made his fortune on the deck or in tho 
cabin of a slaver, by the importation of those very 
Africans whose descendants they are now so anx- 
ious to advance in life. They took these slaves to 
the South and sold them to my ancestors, and the. 
ancestors of men there. They got southern gold 
for their merchandise, and guarantied the title to 
it. And now their descendants turn around and 
say that they will deprive the people of the South 
of this property. I do not believe that the Puri- 
tans would sanction any such doctrine as that. 
They were honest and straightforward, and I am 
sorry to see that their sons are so thoroughly de- 
generate. If I were guilty of such an act politi- 
cally, personally, or morally, I shquld consider 
myself degraded and disgraced. Yes, sir, there is 
not one of you who pretends to hold up his hand 
and say that he will vote to pay back the money 



6 



paid for these Africans. They consider that it 
would be bad policy. The politicians are against 
it. Against what? Against honor and honesty. 
Sir, are we a disgraced people ? Are we a people 
who have no sense of honor? You shall not so 
slander the American people. I shall wait for that 
returning good sense that will be able to judge of 
the merits of the case. 

Now, Mr. Speaker, what were the views express- 
ed by the gentleman from Ohio, [Mr. Long ?] That 
the war must not be continued forever; that it 
must stop sometime; that it is a horrid war, and 
that it ought to stop. AVho is to say when it shall 
stop? nave we not that power? Or is that right 
confined entirely to the party represented on the 
other side of the House ? I say that if you attempt 
to carry out the principle of this resolution it will 
open the eyes of the people, and although my friend 
[Mr. Long] would be a martyr, he would be a mar- 
tyr in a glorious cause. The people would rally 
around him, and would come up and exterminate 
the politicians who dared to raise their ruthless 
hands against the great right which he yesterday 
asserted. 

Mr. Speaker, in the early part of this session 
there was a resolution offered pledging men and 
money to carry on the war. My principles were 
then and are now against the war. I stood soli- 
tary and alone in voting against that resolution, 
and whenever a similar proposition is brought here 
it will meet with my opposition. Not one dollar 
nor one man, I swear by the Eternal, will I vote 
for this infernal, this stupendous folly, more stu- 
pendous than ever disgraced any civilized people 
on the face of God's ' earth. If that be treason, 
make the most of it. 

It is the right of the commoner of England to 
•^/ry that ho will not intrust the money to carry on 
a war to the king, who has the entire war power. 
I do not know that a commoner of the American 
House of Representatives ever lost that right. 
That proposition meets with my approval. If you 
will not make peace in any other way, and if I 
have the casting vote here against furnishing- the 
sinews of war, you shall not have thorn. 

The South asked you to let her go in peace. 
But no, you said you would bring them into sub- 
jugation. This is not done yet, and God Almighty 
grant that it never may be. I hope that you will 
r>ever subjugate the South. If she is to be ever 
again in the Union I hope it will be with her own 
consent; and I hope that that consent will be 
obtained by some other mode than by the sword. 
" If this bo treason, make the most of it." I am* 
as good a Union man as you are, but wo differ as 
to the best means of preserving the Union. 

And now, after giving an expression of my senti- 
ments to you of the Ilepublican party, I will turn 
to the representatives of the Northern Democracy 



Abraham Lincoln has proved himself unfit to be 
trusted an hour. 

Mr. TRACY. I desire to ask the gentleman 
from Maryland 

Mr. HARRIS, of Maryland. I will not yield. 

The SPEAKER ^ro tempore. The gentleman 
from Maryland declines to yield, and will proceed 
without interruption. 

Mr. TRACY. I desire to ask the gentleman 
from Maryland 

[Shouts of "Order!" and much confusion, in 
which the remainder of Mr. TnicT's remark was 
not heard by the reporter.] 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman 
from Pennsylvania is out of order, and will resume 
his seat. 

Mr. TRACY. I rise to a question of order. My 
point of order is this : I desire to know whether in 
these Halls the gentleman from Maryland invoked 
Almighty God that the American arms should not 
prevail ? 

Mr. HARRIS, of Maryland. Is that a question 
of order I should like to know ? 

The SPEAKER pro temi^ore. In the opinion of 
the Chair is not a question of order 

Mr. TRACY. Well, if it is not a question of 
order, I desire to know whether such language is 
not treason. [Cries of " Order !" on the Democratic 
side of the House.] 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman 
from Pennsylvania is out of order. 

Mr. TRACY. Is it in order to talk treason in 
this Hall? [Shouts of "Order .'"from the Demo- 
cratic side of the House, and much confusion.] 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman 
from Pennsylvania will take his seat, and the gen- 
tleman from Maryland will suspend his remarks 
until the House comes to order. 

Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. I rise to a 
question of order. I ask that the language of the 
gentleman from Maryland, referred to by the gen- 
tleman from Pennsylvania, shall bo taken down at 
the Clerk's desk. 

The SPEAKER jyro tempore. The language 
will bo reduced to writing. 

Mr. JOHNSON. I rise to a question of order 
upon that. 

The SPEAKER p,ro tempore. No other point of 
order can be entertained until that before the House 
has been disposed of. 

Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. I ask that the 
language of the gentleman from Maryland, which 
has been taken down by the Clerk, may be read. 
The Clerk read the language, as follows : 
"The South asked you to let them live in peace. 
i3ut, no, you said you would bring them into sub- 
jugation. That is not done yet. God Almighty 
grant that it never may be. I hope that you will 
never subjugate the South." 



Mr. HARRIS, of ll -ryland. That is all right. 1 
I indorse every word of that. 

Mr. THAYER. I ask that the 61st and 62d 
rules may be read. 

The rules were read, as follows : 

"61. If any member, in speaking or otherwise, 
transgress the rules of the House, the Speaker 
shall, or any member may, call to order; 12 which 
case the member so called to order shall imme- 
diately sit down, unless permitted to explain; and 
the House shall, if appealed to, decide on the case, 
but without debate ; if there be no appeal, the deci- 
sion of the Chair shall be submitted to. If the de- 
cision be in favor of the member called to order, he 
shall be at liberty to proceed; if otherwise, he shall 
not be permitted to proceed, in case any member 
object, without leave of the House; and if the case 
require it, ho shaU be liable to the censure of the 
House. , . , 

"02. If a member be called to order for words 
spoken in debate, the person calling him to order 
shall repeat the words excepted to, and they shall 
be taken down in writing t-t the Clerk's table; and 
no member shall be held to answer, or be subject 
to the censure of the House, for words spoken in 
debate, if any other member has spoken, or other 



business has intervened, after the words spoken, 
and before exception to them shall have been taken." 
The SPEAKER pro temporp. The Chair under- 
stands the gentleman from Illinois calls the gentle- 
man from Maryland to order for the words that 
have been read. 

Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois. Yes, sir, and I 
am preparing a resolution to offer in connection 
with it. 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of 
the Chair the words spoken by the gentleman are 
not in order. 

Mr. HARRIS, of Maryland. Well, Mr. 

Speaker 

Mr. "WASHBURNE, of Hlinois. The Chair has 
decided the gentleman out of order ; and u^ider the 
rules ho cannot go on without the permission of 
the House, if any member objects. And for one, I 
protest against any man uttering such language on 
this floor. 

Mr. HARRIS, of Maryland. You mean yon arc 
afraid of it. 



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